


If you're not the one

by ArdillitaD



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV), Juliantina - Fandom
Genre: Art, F/F, Falling In Love, Feelings, Fluff, Juliantina, Love, Painting, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 08:57:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20328502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArdillitaD/pseuds/ArdillitaD
Summary: Juliana’s skill to lose herself completely into colors and paint has helped her through all her life. Only her heart was still struggling in the gray area. What will happen when a student of Journalism shatter her peaceful steady life and makes her see rainbows in the sky?





	If you're not the one

**Author's Note:**

> At the end of the chapter there is a short description of domestic violence.

Those kind of events were always so boring and artificial, precisely like the people who were attending them. Rich snobs, determined to do everything for their own image, even to give their money away for different causes, in which they wholeheartedly didn’t believe in. Dressed in the latest fashion trends, reshaped by the newest surgical interventions and with a twenty-four carats smiles, the high life of the society were parading tonight in the name of children and women violated by their fathers and husbands.

But how many of them were causing the same to their relatives behind the doors of their manors, far away from the eyes of the outside world and the society, that nobody knew and nobody wanted to find out.

The cause was definitely worth it, that is why Valentina had agreed to accompany her sister Eva tonight, even if she had to endure the numerous naughty glances of the Neanderthal men in tuxedos surrounding her.

“Hermanita, it would be nice, if tomorrow in the newspapers there is at least one picture of you with a smile on your face.” – whispered Eva in Valentina’s ear, scanning the whole hall.

“You will have to wait at least tree, four more glasses of champagne, Eva.” – said the girl, draining her glass. Without waiting for yet another scolding, Valentina made her way towards the other end of the hall, in search of a refill. 

On the half way her attention was drew by a group of people, standing and starring in front of something she couldn’t see. A waiter was walking by with a tray full of drinks, so she decided to ask him and use the opportunity to take another glass of champagne. “Excuse me, do you have any idea why those people gathered there?”

“There is one of the donations, miss, original Juli.” – explained the boy, maneuvering the weight of the tray in his hands. Little drops of sweat had formed on his brow, giving him a quite torturous look. Val didn’t want to hold him any longer, so she thanked him and he visibly anxious began to move away with slow steps, leaving her in front of the still unmovable crowd of penguins and their plus ones.

“Juli…” – Val whispered thoughtfully ,as she sipped of her champagne. She was lost in thought about how for some reason the name Juli sounded very familiar, that she hadn’t seen or heard the person passing next to her. So the second she began moving she collided fully and unexpectedly with another body, spilling her whole glass on the person’s shirt, on a dark haired girl’s shirt to be precise.

“Ay, Dios mio… I’m so sorry!” - squealed Val, looking with surprise at the wet spot now covering the girl’s clothes. Sneakers, ripped skinny jeans and a rainbow-colored T-shirt was the first thing she noticed in the victim of her own clumsiness.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it...”– said calmly the black-haired girl, meeting Val’s gaze – “just some old t-shirt, no big deal.”

Val tried to smile at her but couldn’t keep the worry-lines from appearing on her face. “I am really sorry, I will pay for the dry cleaning!”

“No, no need…,” the stranger shook her head smiling softly – “This T-shirt is probably older than you.”

Valentina laughed at the commend “I was just trying to do the right thing” she admitted looking straight at the girl’s fabric covered stomach.

“You being here tonight, probably had already given your fair share of donation, is enough of doing the right thing.” – the girl replied with a reassuring smile. . 

“I, uhh,” Val’s voice trailed off. Anything she had planned to say got stuck in her throat as she looked at the girl. Her eyes followed the lines of her face - skin clear of any makeup, brown warm eyes, full lips, shy semi-smile. To say she was very beautiful would've been a misunderstanding. The girl was gorgeous. Valentine felt like she was in a trance. The warm earth colors in the girl's eyes, so contrasting with hers, were attracting her with an unknown force. The ocean depths meet the foundations of a deserted island, leaving a sense of closeness and familiarity between two absolutely unknowns.

After a few seconds of consuming starring at one another, the darker haired girl looked away, “Well… I… need to go.”, she said awkwardly, breaking the hypnotizing atmosphere that had enveloped them. 

“Yes…”, Val blushed, trying to focus,” …yes, of course.” What was happening with her, she was acting so out of space. The girl smiled at her one last time and Val couldn’t help but smile back. With a quick muttered goodnight, the dark-haired girl left Val to deal with her own world.

“Huh…that was weird.”, whispered Valentina, not daring to turn around and confirm the departure of the girl. Her mind trying to catch up with the experiences of her own body from the short encounter with the unknown girl. The hair on the back of her neck was on edge, plus the unsettling strange feeling of loneliness were confusing her.

“Ay, Valentina…”, she shook her head, as to clear the fogginess inside her brain and took a look around the room. Her attention was immediately caught by a fairytale spread on a canvas. The group of people surrounding the famous Juli painting were now gone, so she was finally able to see what it actually was.

Two figures, walking by a river or lake, surrounded by trees and street lamps. Maybe they were out for a night walk in the park. How romantic…

What really caught her attention were the colors. Bright yellows, oranges, and reds drifted between the dark blue and purple, causing the lake to shine through the night. The bark of the trees seemed to reflect the lights of the night lamps, and they, in turn, illuminated the wet flooring on which the figures moved. The reflecting shadows were following the couple as guardians. The canvas was not alive, but it carried a life within itself, history, and perhaps a hidden secret even.

Valentine had approached the canvas to get a better look, noticed the signature in the lower right corner - Juli, and also the name of the painting – Spirits by the lake. 

“Mystery, right?”, came a voice behind her.

“Perdon?”, she looked confused at the person standing next to her – tall dark-haired middle-aged man with a mustache.

“Mystery…”, he repeated lost in thoughts, “One so mysteriously beautiful painting made by an equally mysterious author.”

Valentina, slightly disturbed by the presence of the stranger, turned her attention back to the painting as she considered what he was saying.

„What do you mean…”, the girl began, stopping in the middle of her sentence, realizing that the man is already gone. “ But how…”, she looked around. The oddities of the evening continued. The man had evaporated as quickly as he had appeared. She definitely needed a drink. The empty champagne glass, still in her hand, reminded her what was the initial purpose of her coming to this side of the place. Taking a deep breath she turned around and started searching for her sister.

** _Two hours later…_ **

Later on when she got home and changed into her pajamas she started googling about Juli. The amount of beautiful paintings were surprising, but the lack of information about the artist himself was even more surprising and somehow a bit alarming. His paintings and his charity organization were world wide famous, but the creator of it all was a ghost, nobody has seen him or spoken to him, he was only known as a name. Valentina spend almost an entire hour in search of something more for this person… zero! That is how she ended up taking a better look at his paintings. The most recent ones were in expressive colors, even though the canvases were mostly recreating the night hours of the day, the painter had chosen all kind of variations of yellow, orange, red and blue to make the night look alive, inviting everyone to the mysterious adventures of the world beyond. She suspected Spirits in the night was a part of a big collection of night themed paintings.

"What it was actually the man behind all this art ... ", Val was wondering. With each following painting she was seeing, her desire to learn more about the author grew. Her curiosity was not giving her peace, but the Internet continued to be totally empty of information about Juli.

All sorts of stories were going through her head. She was imagining him as an athletic young man with a tattered T-shirt and jeans with suspenders, sometimes as an old man with a thick beard, wise eyes and a cigarette behind his ear. 

Maybe she can ask around the art department in her university, maybe they could tell her who the mysterious Juli was.

\-----------------------------------------------------_**Juliantina**_\----------------------------------------------------

Sliding the key into the lock, Juliana tried to be as quiet as possible, though she knew her efforts were in vain. From the other side, they had heard her as she was climbing the stairs to the fifth floor of her apartment. As expected, the serenade began with the opening of the door. The sounds she was met with, were mostly impatience - Where have you been?, displeasure - I'm bored!, accusation - Why did you leave me alone? and a big amount of hunger.

“Okay, okay, I got it, you’re angry…” – said the girl laughing, turning the key twice behind herself, letting it hang on on the door. She quickly removed her shoes and jacket and focused her whole attention on the orange-white ball of hair that was rubbing at her feet. “Did you miss me, boy…” - Juliana asked in a cute baby voice, bending down to take the cat in her arms. She wasn't sure if the quiet meow-ing that followed meant yes or no, but she decided to accept it as a positive answer. This was one of her favorite moments, hugging the little ball of hair, two big eyes fixed on hers with anticipation, the soothing purring in response to her caresses, the greetings with noses they always exchanged when he was in this pose. Of course, those moments lasted exactly one minute, the subsequent wild tosses and turns signaled that the little beast was ready to receive his dose of food and that did not tolerate delay.

Leaving him to enjoy his disgusting, fragrant dinner, Juliana headed for the bathroom. She took off her clothes quickly, leaving them scattered on the floor, this evening the fatigue was too intense, killing any desire for order after herself. For a second, the idea of taking a bath went through her mind, but that would have taken too long, and the memory of her last bath with the subsequent falling asleep and almost drowning was still quite alive in her mind. With hair grasped by a hair clasp, the girl pulled the curtain aside and began to adjust the temperature of the water before going under the shower.

A hot stream of water spilled over her body. Juliana loved the water, after a long exhausting day, even the thought of a quick shower was bringing a smile inside her soul. For her, the water had a purifying power and not just literally. Each drop sliding across her body, was washing away the stress accumulated throughout the day, the negative energy flowing directly into the channel, giving way to those secluded places of the girl's soul that needed peace and comfort the most. Her preferences were for the hot, almost burning the skin jet of water, even on the warmest days, where most people preferred cold showers, for Juliana there was nothing more refreshing than the heat of the hot shower.

The cold was bringing her bad memories of countless evenings where her mother was her only source of heat and not always.

„Dios!” – screamed the girl in surprise, hitting her shoulder into the wall. Her heaven was rudely interrupted by a fluffy intruder, that was now inside the bathtub with her.

“Leo! What, in the name of all the saints, are you doing here???” – asked the girl in high-pitched voice, trying as quickly as possible to turn off the water. Even though she needed just a few seconds, the time was enough for the cat to get slightly wet.

Once the water was stopped, she pulled the curtain to the side and got out of bathtub grabbing the nearest hanging towel, wrapping it around herself.

The little menace was peacefully laying down on the wet floor, looking mischievously at her. 

“I was not aware I have a dolphin for a pet, was pretty sure you’re a cat”, the girl said with a small chuckle, which evolved into a full loud laugh, once Leo tilted his ridiculously looking wet head to the side and looked at her with wide eyes, ready to continue with his playing. “Don’t even think about it, munchkin!”, warned him Juliana, “We need to dry you now.”

In the end it occurred that the cat was not as big of a fan of the drying as of the wetting. He was definitely not into the whole hairdryer procedure.

“Don’t look at me with those angry eyes, Leo…” – said the girl softly once they were done and positioned on her bed. “I should be angry at you for ruining my shower time, but I can not… You’re way too cute.”, rambled the brunette, then started petting his head gently, continuing down towards his body, brushing his hair until his tail in hope to cheer his mood up. It worked almost immediately , the cat was purring in pleasure. After a while , his eyes started to close, a sure indication he was ready for some sleep. 

“Well since we’re both clean…”, smiled the girl while getting under the covers, “I guess it’s bed time.”

The moment her head touched the pillow, Juliana was already flying into a deep sleep. The only sounds filling the room were her deep breathing and the purring of the cat. 

_“Papa, can I go out to play with the other kids?” – asked the little girl hopefully._

_“No, Juliana, you can not go out!” – he said quietly, almost disinterested, taking a deep puff of his cigarette._

_“But there are kids outside and I am here all the time alone…” - she tried again to provoke sympathy in him._

_“I said no.” – he said sternly, showing the harsh features of his face._

_“But papa!” – she shouted, eyes sick with misery. _

_“Don’t ever raise your voice at me, Juliana.” The slap that followed was unexpected but well known. More than once Chino had used similar methods to bring order in, although her mother fell under the blows of her husband more often than Juliana. "I'm your father and only I know what is good for you."_

_Juliana stared numbly. A few seconds later her father was beside her, turning her back against himself, running his hand through the back of her shirt and pulling it sharply up – over her head. In the next moment, the skin on her back felt burning pain. "I will teach you to obey, my child." Chino spat, as he kept his cigarette thickly stuck to his daughter’s back. Silent tears were running down on the girl’s face. She was biting her lower lip in an attempt to stop any sound escaping out of her mouth. She wouldn’t give her father the pleasure of hearing her pain. Juliana grieved not because of the burning she felt, but because of her unfair life and for the future that was awaiting her._

Juliana woke up with a startle, covered in sweat. Her body was on edge, coldness and fear were rushing over her like a tsunami. She was a bit disorientated but once she looked around herself, the girl realizing where she was. The quiet yet sure voice of Leo brought her back completely to her senses. The cat was sitting next to her, a bit alarmed from the abrupt waking up, with big eyes starring at her. “Sorry, munchkin , bad dreams…” – she sighed, petting his head. The sweet pleasurable motion calmed him immediately and he got back to his original position, laid on his side with paws slightly touching her bare legs. She continued petting him for some time, debating if she should try going back to sleep, which she knew it won’t happen, like the many sleepless nights before. After a few more seconds she got up slowly, carefully not to wake up the cat and went to the living room. The sun was still not out, meaning it was probably around four, four thirty. Plenty of time for her to get ready with a coffee and a clean canvas to welcome the sunshine and catch the warm colors of the new day.

_Meow meow meow_ …

Of course Leo was also ready for early breakfast and some painting.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! And sorry for all the writing mistakes, still practicing/struggling with the English grammar.  
I would love to hear all your thoughts and opinions about this story, if you have ideas or suggestions, don’t be shy to share them. Also always open for critics or grammar corrections. Just leave a comment and if already did - thank you!  
Here’s a link https://imgur.com/a/NCOFuXE to Leonid Afremov’s painting “Spirits by the lake”, my inspiration for Juli’s art.  
If you have time come say hi on tumblr: crazytrulybitch. I’m always for Juliantina/Barbarena convos or for any other topic in general. :)


End file.
